Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Kids getting bored this summer? Nothing to do in the car? Then have fun exploring these fun Bible facts!

OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT FACTS: The Bible is a collection of 66 books, written by 40 different authors, over 1,500 years, in 3 different languages, on 3 different continents; Did you know the Bible contains 773,693 words and 3,566,480 letters and 31,102 verses. Reading them all aloud would take a person approximately 70 hours!; The Old Testament has 39 books, while the New Testament has 27 books, bringing the total to 66; The Apostle Paul wrote 13 books (almost half) of the New Testament; The Bible contains 1,189 chapters; You can read through the Bible in one year if you read approximately 3 chapters a day; The first three words in the Bible are 'in the beginning'; The first five books of the Bible, referred to as the Pentateuch, were written by Moses; The last word in the Bible is 'Amen'; The most popular verse in the Bible is John 3:16; The most comforting chapter in the Bible is Psalms 23; The central theme of the Bible is redemption through Christ.

LONGEST AND THE SHORTEST: The shortest book in the Bible is 1 John 3 with one chapter, 13 verses; The shortest verse in the Bible is John 11: 35, 'Jesus wept'; The longest book in the Bible is Psalms; The longest verse is Esther 8:9 containing 90 words; The longest word in the Bible is a name, Maher-shalal-hash-baz (Isaiah 8:1).

STRONGEST, WISEST, OLDEST, TALLEST: The strongest and wisest men in the Bible are Samson and Solomon; The tallest and biggest villain in the Bible is Goliath whose height was over 9 ½ feet; The greatest warrior in the Bible is Gideon, who defeated 135,000 Midianites along with 300 men and 300 trumpets under God's power; The oldest individual in the Bible was Methuselah (Genesis 5:27), who died at the age of 969!; Giant who had the first king size bed was king Og of Bashan (Deut 3:11).

DID YOU KNOW: Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 118 is the central chapter of the Bible and Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible; Ezra 7:21 contains all the letters of the alphabet, except 'J'; The word 'God' appears 3,841 times in the Bible; The two books, 'Songs of Solomon' and 'Esther' have no mention of God in them; The word "Christian" only appears three times in the Bible; A sheep is the most frequently mentioned animal in the Bible; The only domesticated animal not mentioned in the Bible is the cat!; Gabriel, Michael, and Lucifer are the three angels mentioned by name in the Bible.

OTHER FACTS ABOUT THE BIBLE: The Bible is the most shoplifted book in the world; About 50 bibles are sold every minute; Enoch and Elijah were two men in the bible who never died!; A raven was the first animal to emerge from the ark; There are 49 different foods mentioned in the Bible; Almonds and pistachios are the only nuts mentioned in the Bible; The word "grandmother" appears in the Bible only once (2 Tim 1:5 KJV); Seven suicides are recorded in the Bible.

UNUSUAL FACTS ABOUT THE BIBLE: Man who used a stone for a pillow (Gen 28:11); Man who had a conversation with a donkey (Numbers 22:28-30); Sun and moon stood still for a whole day (Josh 10:12-14); A woman killed a man by driving a nail through his head (Judges 4:17-21); Men lapped water like dogs (Judges 7:4-7); Man who had twelve fingers and twelve toes (2 Sam 21:20-21); Man who outran a chariot (1 Kings 18:41-46); An axe head that floated in the river (2 Kings 6:1-6); Woman who boiled and ate her son (2 Kings 6:26-31); Woman whose body was eaten by dogs (2 Kings 9:30-37); The sun travelled backwards (Isa 38:1-8); Man who walked naked for three years (Isa 20:2-4); Man ate locusts for food (Mat 3:4). Believe it or not!!

Friday, July 22, 2011

(Mark 6:31) And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.

Well here we are in the middle of summer and the height of the vacation season. We’re seeing lots cars with full luggage racks and out of state license plates. And people we know are talking of their exciting plans to frolic in fun places. And in the midst of it all you might be longing to get away and recreate but you’re broke and under a busy yoke. How do you handle all that pressure in life and still try to be happy for others who are able to get away? (Psa 55:6) So I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.

Traveling with Jesus was exciting for His disciples. But sometimes it got crazy! There were so many people to reach and keeping up with Jesus was exhausting. The disciples had just returned from a mission the Master had sent them on and they came back with no time to decompress. They jumped right back into ministry with Jesus and the Bible says they were so busy they didn’t even have time to eat. Jesus recognized their need for some space so He sent them on a much needed break so they could refresh themselves.

Is that what you need to do? Do you need to get away and take that vacation you’ve been dreaming about? Some say they can’t afford it but it’s really just a matter of priority. There are inexpensive things you can do. And you don’t have to go very far. You can even stay home and do day trips. But why is it we are so driven as a culture to work, work, work? I think it’s because we are proving our worth by our work. Our European counterparts enjoy much time off throughout the year because they value lifestyle and quality of life. But here in America we push ourselves to burnout. We feel guilty when we relax. We don’t want people to think we’re lazy. And we feel indispensible at work like the business would go belly up in our absence! (Isa 28:12) To whom He said, “This is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest,” And, “This is the refreshing”; Yet they would not hear.

But the Lord has promised rest to His people! (Psa 37:7) Rest in the Lord… (Psa 116:7) Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. Hard work must be balanced with rest. Let’s remember God gave the Sabbath for His people Israel to rejuvenate. But if there isn’t any respite then our body and our emotional state begin to break down and we start suffering the consequences. There’s times you have to push yourself and then you trust God that you will have times of repose. Like a beautiful piece of classical music that gets chaotic, hits a peak crescendo, and then resolves into a lazy river of symphony that caresses your weary soul. (Acts 3:19)…that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.

But remember this beloved…you can spend all that money and go to an exotic place and still be miserable. Why? Because you take yourself with you! There have been vacations where I have been in the most beautiful place but the place in my heart was not so beautiful. Times like these we learn the vacation we need is to enter the rest that Jesus has for us. (Mat 11:28-30) Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

God wants us to stop striving and start thriving. Our getaway isn’t so much getting away as much as it is giving away our heavy burdens and cares to the Lord. Then when God allows us a retreat we are not so much running away from something as much as looking for a place to match that perfect peace of the heart.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

You have probably never heard of Urbanus before. But as Paul was winding up his letter to the Roman believers he gave greetings to this man and called him a “fellow worker.” We don’t know much else about Urbanus since he is only mentioned here and nowhere else in the Bible. All we can say is that he wasn’t a country boy since his name means “belonging to the urbs or city.” But we do know how he spent his time as a busy urbanite. He was a fellow worker in Christ, serving the Lord right where he was.

There is always so much to do with our time. Think of all that’s on your plate. But in the midst of all your activities and responsibilities do you ever feel like there must be more to life than how you spend your energies? Is all that effort going in the right direction? Do you ever desire to do something for eternity and not just for the temporal? Then like Urbanus, the Lord might be calling you to be a Christian worker.

In any given ministry there are so many things that need to be done. When God is moving there is the necessity to keep up with the flow of the Spirit. Ministries spring up and as a result there is a lack of Christian workers to get the work done. As you look into the behind-the-scenes of a ministry it is typical to see a small group of people doing most of the work. But as the ministry grows these Christian workers can become taxed. What is therefore created is the necessity for others to step up to the plate to share in this blessed work for the Lord. Jesus was insightful on this: (Mat 9:37-38) Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” Christian workers are not to complain but to pray. They are also not to make others feel guilty that they are doing all the work. Remember Martha on that (Luke 10:38-42). God will provide the workers.

Having a changed life in Christ is the most thrilling experience on earth. Others put into your life as a newborn baby (1 Pet 2:2). But as you grow and mature in Christ you will naturally feel like you want to put back in what you have taken out. That’s when you will want to start praying about how you can serve the Lord. Then wait on the Lord (Psa 27:14). As you do the doors will open (Rev 3:7-8) and you will have the excitement of service for our King! (Psa 100:2) Serve the LORD with gladness…

As God opens the door you will feel privileged to serve the Lord. You won’t believe God has chosen you to do something for Him. Your cup will overflow and it will be hard to wait until your next opportunity for service comes around. In between you pray fervently over your ministry and the people involved in it. Then you spend time preparing not only your heart but also what you need to do to be ready to serve. As all this transpires you will feel so fulfilled because you are doing something that really makes a difference in life.

As much as the life of a Christian worker is exciting it will also have its challenges. Satan will seek to discourage the servant of the Lord. (2 Cor 2:11) He might suggest that you are not bearing fruit and that you should go ahead and quit. (1 Cor 15:58) Next, Satan might propose that you are not worthy of your ministry because you are falling short and don’t deserve to serve the Lord. (Rev 12:10; 1 John 2:1-2). Be advised He will also try to draw you into conflict with other Christian workers. (Mat 18:15-35) Don’t give in to these tendencies because the reward for serving Lord is just too great! (Heb 6:10) For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

(Pro 4:25-27) Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the left; remove your foot from evil.

Have you ever gotten lost while hiking? It’s a creepy feeling and you can’t wait until you figure things out and get back to your origination. One time at a Young Adult camp we were hosting in the mountains, a girl wandered off by herself and got disoriented and couldn’t make her way back. Then the sun set. Eventually we had to call Search and Rescue. We prayed all night that she would be safe. She was found in the middle of the night absolutely worn and disheveled but by God’s grace she was unhurt. She said it was unimaginably frightening and she told us she almost went off a cliff in the dark! It all started when she got off track.

That can be so like the Christian life. God tells you to do something and everything is going good. Then you veer off course a little and get involved in something else. Next thing you know you’re way off course and can’t find your way back.

1 Kings 13 shares a story of a man of God who was told by God to go to Bethel and speak against the altar of idolatry right before king Jeroboam himself. The king stretched out his arm to have him arrested but his arm withered. He asked the prophet to heal him and he did. The king wanted to have him come to his house and reward him but he told the king the Lord had said no to any hospitality and to leave a different way he came. Now an old prophets’ sons saw what had happened and they went home to tell their father. The man went after the man of God on his donkey and found him sitting under an oak tree. He told the younger prophet an angel had spoken to him that he was to come home with him so he went with him. When they were eating at the table the older prophet spoke the Word of the Lord to him and said he had been disobedient and that he would die and not be buried in the tomb of his fathers. When the young prophet left for home a young lion met him and killed him. When the older prophet heard it he came and picked up his body and buried him.

That story scares me. In fact both stories alarm me! Why is it so easy to stray off track? It might be we get bored and a another path looks more fun than the one we are on. Or it may be that our course is getting difficult and we want an easier one. But we must keep to the task whether bored or tired! (Mat 7:13-14) “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Here’s a good prayer to pray along the path of life: (Psa 25:4-5) Show me Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day. And if we go off in another direction we have the Lord to remind us of where we need to be: (Isa 30:21) Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “ This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.

I like the example of Jesus who was so set on His course: (Luke 9:51) Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem. Paul too is a good example when he was told he would be bound and arrested in Jerusalem: (Acts 21:13) Then Paul answered, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” Is it time for you to get back on track and to stay there?

LOUE AND CHERYL MONTEITH

About Me

My wife Cheryl and I are missionaries to missionaries. We encourage servants of the Lord to keep on in their calling and to never give up. 1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.